Ethics of Body-Hacking

My gut says the philosophical findings of Alva Noë are dead wrong, at least as they’re quoted here. Reputable doctors and scientists will soon be openly embracing the opportunity to enhance people’s lives through cybernetic alterations. As will tattoo artists. 🙂

Alva Noë, a philosopher at the University of California, Berkeley and a contributor to NPR’s 13.7: Cosmos and Culture blog, has written extensively on what he calls “cyborgian naturalness.” He disagreed that the modern philosophers dropped the ball, saying that tackling the matter would involve unpacking two questions:

Is it OK to cut into human bodies for these kinds of experiments?

How much tolerance should society have for artificially enhancing the body?

To the first question, Noë said he found the “body hacking” experimentation on humans “ethically disturbing” and couldn’t fathom a doctor or any other scientists conducting these kinds of operations.